CM 

in 


JAPANESE  FARMERS 
IN  CALIFORNIA 


By  COLONEL  JOHN  P.  IRISH 


"We  hold  these  truths  to  be  self- 
evident:  that  all  men  are  created 
equal;  that  they  are  endowed  by 
their  Creator  with  certain  inalien- 
able rights;  that  among  these  are 
life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of 
happiness." — The  Declaration 
of  Independence. 

"Observe  good  faith  and  justice 
toward  all  nations;  cultivate  peace 
and  harmony  with  all;  religion 
and  morality  enjoin  this  conduct, 
and  can  it  be  that  good  policy  does 
not  equally  enjoin  it?" — George 
Washington's  Farewell  Address. 


Copies  of  this  pamphlet  may  be  obtained  from  John  P.  Irish, 
1904  Adeline  Street,  Oakland,  California. 


15- 

z< 


ON  DECEMBER  17,  1919,  THE  JAPANESE  GOVERNMENT  ANNOUNCED 
THAT  ON  AND  AFTER  FEBRUARY  25,   1920,  IT  WILL  STOP  ISSUING 
PASSPORTS   TO   WOMEN  WHOSE   MARRIAGE  TO   JAPANESE   RESI- 
DENTS IN   CONTINENTAL  UNITED  STATES   HAS   BEEN   ARRANGED 
THROUGH    EXCHANGE    OF    PHOTOGRAPHS.       THIS    VOLUNTARY 
MEASURE  ADOPTED  BY  THE  JAPANESE  GOVERNMENT  ONCE  AGAIN 
PROVES  ITS  SOLICITUDE  FOR  THE  MAINTENANCE  AND  PROMOTION 
OF  FRIENDLY  RELATIONS  WITH  THE  UNITED  STATES 
AND  CALIFORNIA. 


-L 


JAPANESE  FARMERS  IN  CAUFORNIA 

(An  address  by  Colonel  John  P.  Irish  at  the  52nd  Convention  of  California  Fruit 
Growers  and  Farmers  held  at  Chico,  California,  November  I  0  to  16,   1919.) 


THE  PRESENT  vituperative  discussion  of  the  question  of  the 
Oriental  people  in  California,  goes  deeply  into  the  whole  subject 

of  productive  labor  on  the  land.  When  we  treated  our  treaty 
with  China  as  a  scrap  of  paper  and  by  the  Geary  Act  excluded  thirty 
thousand  Chinese  who  were  legally  domiciled  here,  and  by  murdering 
and  destroying  the  property  of  other  Chinese,  drove  them  out,  there 
was  created  a  shortage  in  farm  labor,  and  this  economic  vacuum  drew 
in  the  Japanese,  who  came  protected  by  a  solemn  treaty  between  their 
government  and  ours. 

The  Japanese  now  here  constitute  a  fraction  of  one  per  cent  of  our 
population.  Against  this  minute  element  many  of  our  people  are 
being  lashed  into  a  fury  of  apprehension,  hatred  and  rage.  There 
may  be  left  amongst  us  those  who  are  capable  of  calm  consideration, 
and  to  such  I  venture  to  address  myself. 

The  present  storm  was  started  by  Senator  Phelan's  statement 
that  an  American  company  in  Los  Angeles  had  sold  to  Japanese 
800,000  acres  of  land,  on  the  Mexican  side  of  the  Imperial  Valley. 
The  American  company  promptly  proved  this  to  be  false,  and  proved 
that  it  had  sold  no  land  there  or  elsewhere  to  Japanese.  The  Senator 
then  shifted  the  story  to  such  a  sale  to  Japanese  by  the  Mexican  Gov- 
ernment. That  government  promptly  denied  such  sale  and  submitted 
proofs  of  the  falsity  of  the  charge.  Not  discouraged,  the  Senator 
shifted  again  to  the  charge  that  Japanese  women  in  this  state  are 
having  children  and  declared  that  the  government  ought  to  stop  it. 

A  little  retrospection  ought  to  calm  the  temper  of  this  discussion 
and  confine  it  to  the  truth.  When  San  Francisco  was  shaken  to  its 
foundations  and  levelled  by  fire,  and  thousands  of  its  people  had  no 
food  or  shelter,  their  cry  for  help  went  out  to  the  world.  The  only 
country  that  heard  and  heeded  was  Japan.  That  government  imme- 
diately sent  a  quarter  of  a  million  in  gold  to  the  relief  committee,  of 
which  Senator  Phelan  was  a  member.  A  few  months  later  the  San 
Francisco  School  Board  kicked  all  Japanese  children  out  of  the  public 
schools,  and  its  secretary  gave  as  a  reason  that  the  Japanese  children 
did  nothing  but  study  in  school  and  in  the  examinations  took  the  prizes 
and  promotions  that  the  white  children  ought  to  have! 

Soon  after  this  an  organized  anti-Japanese  movement  began, 
headed  by  an  ex-convict. 

The  Legislature  began  to  take  notice  and  passed  an  act  ordering 

425716 


'*4  f  1  *:'',?  JAPAN  ES£   ;FARMER  S     IN     CALIFORNIA 


the  State  Labor  Commissioner  to  thoroughly  investigate  th'e  Japanese 
in  the  state  and  make  a  report.  To  pay  for  this  work  the  sum  of 
$10,000  was  appropriated. 

The  commissioner  took  ample  time  in  the  investigation.  He 
relied  on  the  testimony  of  scores  of  white  witnesses  in  every  locality 
where  Japanese  were  domiciled.  He  gave  the  name  and  address  of 
each  of  these  white  witnesses.  His  report,  based  on  their  testimony, 
refuted  every  lie  about  the  Japanese  coined  by  the  ex-convict  and  his 
followers.  Now  that  report  was  a  public  document,  paid  for  by  the 
taxpayers'  money.  But  the  influence  of  the  ex-convict  with  the  State 
Government  was  able  to  prevent  its  publication,  and  the  taxpayers 
who  paid  for  it  were  not  permitted  to  see  it.  In  the  foregoing  is  a 
record  of  absolute  fact.  Is  it  a  record  of  which  any  decent  citizen 
can  be  proud? 

We  have  now  entered  upon  another  phase  of  the  anti-Japanese 
question,  and  in  this  phase  the  same  old  lies,  refuted  by  that  report, 
are  in  use  once  more,  and  the  politicians  who  eat  their  bread  in  the 
sweat  of  the  taxpayer's  face,  are  shouting  them  from  the  housetops. 

Since  that  report  was  made  what  have  the  Japanese  been  doing? 
Nothing  but  working,  and  by  their  industry  adding  to  the  wealth  of  the 
state. 

In  our  country  the  normal  flux  and  change  of  affairs  always 
following  a  war,  has  been  displaced  by  abnormal  conditions.  The 
hands  of  men  are  raised  against  our  government.  Anarchists  advocate 
destruction  of  our  institutions.  They  destroy  life  and  property  by 
bombs.  The  I.  W.  W.  teach  murder  and  arson  as  commendable 
occupations.  Organized  labor  under  this  radical  leadership,  strikes 
destructively.  In  our  own  state  tons  of  food  have  rotted  on  the  docks 
because  the  stevedores  refuse  to  move  it,  and  claim  the  right  to  mob 
and  murder  any  who  will  move  it.  Seventy-five  per  cent  of  the  local 
tonnage  of  this  state  is  affected  by  water  transportation,  and  all  water- 
borne  tonnage  has  been  forbidden  for  months  by  a  strike  which  threat- 
ens death  to  all  who  would  take  the  strikers'  place. 

Are  there  any  I.  W.  W.'s  amongst  the  Japanese?  No.  Are 
there  any  Japanese  anarchists?  No.  Are  there  any  Japanese  bomb 
throwers?  No.  Are  there  any  Japanese  mobs  busy  murdering  men 
who  want  to  work?  No.  Are  there  any  Japanese  groups  teaching 
resistance  to  our  laws  and  the  destruction  of  our  institutions?  No. 
Then  what  are  they  doing?  They  are  at  work.  "But,"  cries  the 
alarmist,  "they  should  not  be  allowed  on  the  land." 

Why  not?  The  Japanese  have  had  but  little  independent  access 
to  the  good  lands  of  California.  '  They  found  the  sand  and  colloidal 


JAPANESE     FARMERS     IN     CALIFORNIA  5 

clays  of  Livingston  cursed  and  barren  as  the  fig  tree  of  Bethany!  On 
that  infertile  spot  the  Japanese  wrought  in  privation  and  want  for 
years,  until  they  had  charged  the  soil  with  humus  and  bacteria,  and 
made  it  bear  fruitful  and  profitable  orchards  and  vineyards.  Now 
white  men,  led  by  these  Japanese  pioneers,  pay  high  prices  for  land 
that  was  worthless,  and  grapes  purple  in  the  sun  and  peaches  blush 
on  the  trees,  where  all  was  a  forbidding  waste  until  Japanese  skill, 
patience  and  courage  transformed  it. 

The  refractory  hog  wallow  lands  stretching  along  the  east  side 
of  the  San  Joaquin  Valley,  were  abhorred  and  shunned  by  the  white 
man.  But  the  Japanese  Sakamoto,  seeing  that  they  were  in  the  ther- 
mal belt,  began  their  conquest  for  citrus  orchards.  He  persisted.  He 
won,  and  now  vineyards  and  orchards  cover  the  hated  hog  wallow 
land  from  Seville  to  Lemon  Cove.  And  Sakamoto  is  called  a  "men- 
ace" to  California! 

These  same  experiences  were  repeated  on  the  bad  lands  of  the 
state. 

We  now  produce  a  rice  crop  valued  at  $30,000,000,  on  hard  pan 
and  goose  lands  that  were  not  worth  paying  taxes  on.  But  it  was 
Ikuta,  a  Japanese,  who  believed  those  lands  would  raise  rice,  pioneered 
that  industry  and  produced  the  first  commercial  crop  of  rice  raised 
in  the  state. 

The  anti-Japanese  agitator  represents  that  people  as  parasites. 
The  fact  is  that  wherever  the  Japanese  has  put  his  hand  to  the  pruning 
hook  and  plow  he  has  developed  nobler  uses  of  the  soil,  and  land 
values  have  rapidly  risen. 

The  statement  is  made,  and  was  recently  published  in  a  "Chron- 
icle" editorial,  that  when  Japanese  begin  to  settle  in  a  farming  district 
that  district  is  ruined  for  the  occupation  of  whites,  who  get  out  of  it  as 
soon  as  they  can.  Of  course  that  is  a  falsehood.  Its  refutation  is 
seen  at  Livingston,  where  Japanese  were  the  pioneers  and  now  are 
outnumbered  eight  to  one  by  white  settlers  who  have  come  there  since 
Japanese  enterprise  proved  the  value  of  the  land. 

In  Sonoma  County,  near  Santa  Rosa,  was  a  barren  hillside  so 
infertile  that  it  hardly  produced  weeds.  On  its  highest  part  was  a 
spring.  A  Japanese  secured  a  contract  on  it,  dug  out  the  spring,  secur- 
ing an  increased  flow,  laboriously  fertilized  the  sterile  soil,  and  now 
gets  $800  per  acre  from  it  in  strawberries.  In  the  same  county  is  an 
area  of  sterile  hardpan  land  called  "Starvation  Flat."  A  Japanese 
has  taken  it,  sunk  a  deep  well  and  is  slowly  and  laboriously  conquering 
the  rebellious  soil,  and  soon  that  area  will  be  a  picture  of  fertility  and 
prosperity,  and  anti-Japanese  agitators  will  point  to  it,  as  they  do  to 


6 JAPANESE     FARMERS     IN     CALIFORNIA 

the  strawberry  garden  on  the  formerly  repulsive  hillside,  as  proof  that 
the  Japanese  are  usurping  the  best  land  in  the  state.  The  fact  is  that 
from  the  reclamation  of  the  tule  swamps,  promoted  by  Mr.  Shima,  to 
nearly  every  acre  owned  by  Japanese,  they  wrought  upon  the  leanest 
and  the  poorest  land  in  the  state,  which  white  men  would  not  touch, 
and  by  toil  and  sacrifice  made  it  as  good  as  that  which  was  naturally 
the  best. 

Now  it  is  proposed  to  expel  them,  not  for  their  vices  but  for  their 
virtues,  and  every  Japanese  oppressed  by  brutal  legislation  and 
expelled  can  hold  his  head  high  erect  in  his  own  country  and  say, 
"I  was  excluded  from  California  for  my  virtues,  my  industry,  my 
skill  and  the  benefit  I  was  to  the  land  and  its  production." 

The  Japanese  with  wives  are  all  married  according  to  our  laws. 
The  women  are  amiable,  good  wives,  mothers  and  housekeepers.  It 
is  false  that  they  work  in  the  fields.  Their  children,  admitted  to  our 
schools,  will  make  good  and  useful  Americans.  But  the  cry  is  raised 
that  though  only  about  one  per  cent  of  our  population,  they  will  out- 
breed,  outwork  and  outdo  the  other  99  per  cent  of  white  people.  If 
this  be  true  it  proves  a  degeneracy  of  the  whites  which  would  be  a 
just  cause  of  alarm.  The  field  is  open.  Economic  law  repeals  all 
statutes.  The  way  to  combat  the  Japanese  is  not  by  lying  about  them 
and  depriving  them  of  the  common,  primitive  rights  of  humanity,  but 
excelling  them  in  industry,  in  foresight  and  enterprise. 


ARTICLES  I  AND  II  OF  THE  TREATY  BETWEEN  JAPAN 
AND  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

The  subjects  or  citizens  of  the  two  High  Contracting  Parties  shall 
have  full  liberty  to  enter,  travel  or  reside  in  any  part  of  the  territories 
of  the  other  Contracting  Party,  and  shall  enjoy  full  and  perfect  pro- 
tection for  their  persons  and  property. 

They  shall  have  free  access  to  the  courts  of  justice  in  pursuit  and 
defense  of  their  rights;  they  shall  be  at  liberty  equally  with  native 
subjects  or  citizens  to  choose  and  employ  lawyers,  advocates  and 
representatives  to  pursue  and  defend  their  rights  before  such  courts, 
and  in  all  other  matters  connected  with  the  administration  of  justice 
they  shall  enjoy  all  the  rights  and  privileges  enjoyed  by  native  sub- 
jects or  citizens. 

In  whatever  relates  to  rights  of  residence  and  travel;  to  the 
possession  of  goods  and  effects  of  any  kind;  to  the  succession  to 
personal  estate  by  will  or  otherwise,  and  the  disposal  of  property  of 
any  sort  and  in  any  manner  whatsoever,  which  they  may  lawfully 


JAPANESE     FARMERS     IN     CALIFORNIA  7 

acquire,  the  subjects  or  citizens  of  each  Contracting  Party  shall  enjoy 
in  the  territories  of  the  other  the  same  privileges,  liberties  and  rights, 
and  shall  be  subject  to  no  higher  imposts  or  charges  in  these  respects 
than  native  subjects  or  citizens,  or  subjects  or  citizens  of  the  most 
favored  nation.  The  subjects  or  citizens  of  each  of  the  Contracting 
Parties  shall  enjoy  in  the  territories  of  the  other  entire  liberty  of  con- 
science, and,'  subject  to  the  laws,  ordinances  and  regulations,  shall 
enjoy  the  right  of  private  or  public  exercise  of  their  worship,  and  also 
the  right  of  burying  their  respective  countrymen  according  to  their 
religious  customs,  in  such  suitable  and  convenient  places  as  may  be 
established  and  maintained  for  that  purpose.  ^ 

They  shall  not  be  compelled,  under  any  pretext  whatsoever,  to 
pay  any  charges  or  taxes  other  or  higher  than  those  that  are,  or  may 
be,  paid  by  native  subjects  or  citizens,  or  subjects  or  citizens  of  the 
most  favored  nation. 

The  subjects  or  citizens  of  either  of  the  Contracting  Parties  resid- 
ing in  the  territories  of  the  other  shall  be  exempted  from  all  compulsory 
military  service  whatsoever,  whether  in  the  army,  navy,  national  guard 
or  militia;  from  all  contributions  imposed  in  lieu  of  personal  service, 
and  from  all  forced  loans  or  military  exactions  or  contributions. 

There  shall  be  reciprocal  freedom  of  commerce  and  navigation 
between  the  territories  of  the  two  High  Contracting  Parties. 

The  subjects  or  citizens  of  each  of  the  Contracting  Parties  may 
trade  in  any  part  of  the  territories  of  the  other  by  wholesale  or  retail 
in  all  kinds  of  produce,  manufactures  and  merchandise  of  lawful  com- 
merce, either  in  person  or  by  agents,  singly  or  in  partnerships  with 
foreigners  or  native  subjects  or  citizens;  and  they  may  there  own  or 
hire  and  occupy  houses,  manufactories,  warehouses,  shops  and  prem- 
ises which  may  be  necessary  for  them,  and  lease  land  for  residential 
and  commercial  purposes,  conforming  themselves  to  the  laws,  police 
and  customs  regulations  of  the  country  like  native  subjects  or  citizens. 
They  shall  have  liberty  freely  to  come  with  their  ship  and  cargoes 
to  all  places,  ports  and  rivers  in  the  territories  of  the  other,  which  are, 
or  may  be,  opened  to  foreign  commerce;  and  shall  enjoy,  respectively, 
the  same  treatment  in  matters  of  commerce  and  navigation  as  native 
subjects  or  citizens,  or  subjects  or  citizens  of  the  most  favored  nation, 
without  having  to  pay  taxes,  imposts  or  duties  of  whatever  nature  or 
under  whatever  denomination,  levied  in  the  name,  or  for  the  profit,  of 
the  government,  public  functionaries,  private  individuals,  corporations 
or  establishments  of  any  kind,  other  or  greater  than  those  paid  by 
native  subjects  or  citizens,  or  subjects  or  citizens  of  the  most  favored 
nation. 


8 JAPANESE     FARMERS     IN     CALIFORNIA 

CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 
ARTICLE  VI,  SECTION  2. 

This  Constitution,  and  the  laws  of  the  United  States  which  shall 
be  made  in  pursuance  thereof,  and  all  treaties  made,  or  which  shall  be 
made,  under  the  authority  of  the  United  States,  shall  be  the  supreme 
law  of  the  land;  and  the  judges  in  every  state  shall  be  bound  thereby, 
anything  in  the  Constitution  or  laws  of  any  state  to  the  contrary  not- 
withstanding. 

#  *  *  * 

FOURTEENTH  AMENDMENT. 

All  persons  born  or  naturalized  in  the  United  States  and  subject 
to  the  jurisdiction  thereof,  are  citizens  of  the  United  States  and  of  the 
state  wherein  they  reside.  No  state  shall  make  or  enforce  any  law 
which  shall  abridge  the  privileges  or  immunities  of  citizens  of  the 
United  States;  nor  shall  any  state  deprive  any  person  of  life,  liberty,  or 
property  without  due  process  of  law,  nor  deny  to  any  person  within 
its  jurisdiction  the  equal  protection  of  the  laws. 


The  Stolen  Letters 
of  Senator  Phelan 

How  Did  He  Get  Them? 

The  Campaign 
of  Lies 

Governor    Stephens   for 

Negro  Colonization 

of  California 

By  JNO.  P.  IRISH 
1904  Adeline  Street,  Oakland 


(COPIES    FREE) 

Senator  Phelan  was  the  first  witness  before  the 
House  Committee  on  Immigration,  in  its  recent 
investigation  of  the  Japanese  question.  He 
began  by  an  abusive  attack  upon  me,  which  he 
renewed  during  the  two  and  a  half  hours  he  was 
before  the  Committee.  I  was  called  next,  and 
then  Senator  Phelan  grabbed  his  hat  and  ran 
from  the  room. 

During  his  examination,  Senator  Phelan  ex- 
hibited three  private  letters,  all  written  by  Mr. 
Kawakami,  one  to  Governor  Stephens,  one  to 
me,  and  one  to  Dr.  Sidney  Gulick.  When  asked 
by  the  Committee  how  he  came  into  the  illegal 
possession  of  these  letters,  he  refused  to  answer. 
When  pressed  to  tell,  he  said,  "They  may  have 
been  lifted  from  the  mail." 

I  explained  to  the  Committee  that  the  letters 
to  Governor  Stephens  and  me  were  trap  letters, 
not  mailed,  but  left  to  be  stolen  by  some  thief  in 
the  employ  of  Senator  Phelan  who  was  suspected 
of  robbing  Mr.  Kawakami's  mail.  The  letter 
to  Dr.  Gulick  had  been  regularly  mailed. 

On  my  second  appearance  before  the  Commit- 
tee, I  said  that  the  people  were  not  interested 
in  the  origin  of  those  letters,  but  they  were  in 
knowing  how  Senator  Phelan  got  illegal  pos- 
session of  them.  As  he  said  they  "May  have 
been  lifted  from  the  mail,"  he  cast  suspicion 


upon  the  postmasters  of  San  Francisco  and  Oak- 
land, his  appointees,  and  personal  and  political 
confidants  and  co-religionists,  and  they  could  be 
purged  of  the  suspicion  of  robbing  the  mail  for 
him  only  by  the  Committee  compelling  him  to 
tell  how  he  got  the  letters.  I  said  to  the  Com- 
mittee that  "There  are  gentlemen  running  for 
the  Senate,  for  which  Senator  Phelaii  is  al-o  a 
candidate,  and  if,  as  his  reply  opened  the  door 
to  suspect,  his  appointees  are  robbing  the  mail 
to  serve  his  purpose  in  the  Japanese  matter, 
they  may  also  rob  the  mail  to  help  him  in 
politics.  His  postmasters  are  therefore  entitled 
to  be  purged  of  the  suspicion  he  put  upon  them, 
and  that  can  be  done  only  by  the  Committee 
compelling  him  to  tell  how  he  got  the  stolen 
letters." 

The  Committee  agreed  with  rue.  and  sum- 
moned him  to  appear  and  tell.  He  refused  to 
appear  before  the  Committee  again,  and  has 
contented  himself  with  writing  a  letter  to  the 
chairman,  in  which  he  again  refuses  to  tell,  and 
says  they  were  procured  for  him  "by  a  <r< -ntle- 
man." 

In  this  letter  Senator  Phelan  attacks  Kawa- 
kami,  who  is  so  far  his  superior  mentally  and 
morally  that  the  difference  between  them  is 
polar. 

He  also  renews  his  attack  upon  me.  So  Sen- 
ator Phelan  is  trying  to  divert  public  attention 
from  his  contemptible  predicament  by  chal- 
lenging me  to  a  personal  controversy  in  which  I 
decline  to  engage.  Such  controversy  I  have,  only 
with  my  equals,  not  my  inferiors. 

I  put  the  real  issue  to  the  people  of  Califor- 
nia, which  is,  do  Senator  Phelan's  postmasters 
rob  the  mail  for  him?     He  is  their  accuser. 
am  not.     This  issue  I  propose  to  keep  before  tl 
people  by  every  means  of  publicity  I  can  find. 

It  is  of  public  interest  that  the  Senator  hi 
enriched  the  vocabulary  with  three  term^  ilhi 
trative  of  his  morality.     When  he  was  Mayor 
San   Francisco    it   was   his   sworn    duty   to   fr 
quently  count  the  taxpayers'  money  in  the  eit\ 
vaults.     Of  that  money  the  City  Treasurer  <tol< 
$200,000.     On  his  trial  Phelan  was  called  as 
witness,  and  when  asked  if  he  actually  count 
the  money,  he  replied  that  he  had  "hefted  tl 
coin  bags." 

As  to  his  stolen  letters,  now  he  says  they  wei 
given  to  him  by  a  gentleman,  and  "May  hav< 
been  lifted  from  the  mail." 

Hence  we  have  this  Phelanesque  addition 
the  vocabulary: 

"Gentleman" — A  man  who  supplies  the  Sei 
ator  with  stolen  letters. 


"Hefting" — Counting  iron  washers  as  gold  in 
*he  City  treasury. 

"Lifting  from  the  mail" — Robbing  the  mail 
.rf  private  letters  for  the  Senator's  benefit. 

The  people  of  this  State  are  now  aware  that 
their  Senator  is  a  very  sneaking  sort  of  a  coward, 
who  dared  not  face  a  Committee  of  Congress 
which  came  here  at  his  request. 

The  Federal  Penal  Code,  Sec.  195,  Chapter  8, 
makes  the  embezzling,  or  stealing,  or  "lifting"  a 
letter  from  the  mail  by  a  postal  officer  or 
employe,  a  felony,  punishable  by  a  fine  of  $500 
and  imprisonment  for  five  years. 

The  law  makes  the  receiver  of  that  which  is 
stolen  equally  criminal  with  the  thief.  The 
reader  may  now  estimate  the  legal  plight  of 
Senator  Phelan,  with  his  "lifted"  letters. 


THE  CAMPAIGN  OF  LIES 

The  following  parallel  is  presented  to  impress 
the  reader  with  the  persistence  of  the  campaign 
of  atrocious  lying  by  which  our  people  are  to  be 
stampeded  into  supporting  the  Inman-Phelan 
initiative  which  dishonors  and  disgraces  the 
State.  I  ask  the  decent  people  of  California 
how  long  can  a  society  endure  whose  public 
opinion  rests  upon  the  rotten  foundation  of 
Satanic  lying? 

THE  LIE 
From  the  "Examiner,"  July  28 

"JAPS    REFUSE    AID    TO    SICK,    SAYS 
SAILOR 


Captain    of   Schooner    Declares    He   Could 

Not  Get  Medical  Assistance  for 

Crew  on   Island 

Burial  of  American  Seaman  on  South  Sea 

Island  Not  Allowed  by  the 

Japanese   Authorities 

Charging  gross  injustice  to,  and  inhuman 
treatment  of  American  sailors  by  Japanese  naval 
authorities  of  the  island  of  Panope  in  the  South 
Sea  group,  Captain  K.  O.  Bauer  and  ten  mem- 
bers of  his  crew  with  the  schooner  Lottie  Ben- 
nette  made  port  yesterday. 

According  to  Captain  Bauer,  he  was  forced  to 
put  into  the  Japanese  controlled  island  in  April, 
when  a  mysterious  disease  broke  out  among  the 
members  of  his  crew.  Nearly  all  of  the  crew 
were  kept  to  their  bunks  by  the  disease,  and  the 
first  mate,  J.  W.  Boswell,  died. 

According  to  Captain  Bauer,  the  Japanese 
naval  authorities  were  extremely  discourteous 
and  refused  to  permit  the  sick  American  sailors 


to  be  taken  ashore  i'or  treatment,  or  to  supply 
fresh  vegetables  to  the  ship. 

Not  alone  were  the  Americans  refused  a  land- 
ing, but  the  captain  was  ordered  to  put  to  sea 
immediately  in  the  face  of  a  northwest  gale. 
The  Japanese  even  refused  permission  for  the 
Americans  to  bury  the  first  mate,  and  they  were 
compelled  to  bury  him  at  sea. 

The  disease  was  a  peculiar  malady.  The  men 
were  first  stricken  with  a  high  fever.  Then 
later  their  legs  became  swollen  and  turned  blue. 
The  swelling  continued  to  their  waistlines. 

Sailing  from  Tulage  in  the  Solomon  group  of 
islands  in  the  South  Seas  118  days  ago,  the  vessel 
carried  a  cargo  of  copra  to  the  Burns  Philp  Com- 
pany. When  a  few  days  out  from  Tulage  the 
first  mate  became  ill.  As  the  winds  did  not 
permit  a  return  to  the  port  of  sailing,  the  cap- 
tain continued  on  his  course,  but  as  other  mem- 
bers became  stricken  with  the  disease  and  the 
first  mate  died,  he  sought  assistance  at  the  island 
of  Ponape. 

Three  members  of  the  crew  were  still  ill  when 
the  little  schooner  put  into  this  harbor  yester- 
day. 

According  to  port  officials  here,  this  is  the 
most  flagrant  case  yet  recorded  against  the 
Japanese  authorities.  It  is  pointed  out  that  one 
of  the  first  courtesies  of  the  sea  is  to  give  haven 
to  stricken  sailors. 

Captain  Bauer  intends  to  report  his  charges  to 
Washington." 


THE  DENIAL 
From  the  "Commercial  News,"  July  29 

JAPANESE  DID   NOT  MISTREAT  U.  S. 
SAILORS 


Regarding  the  story  published  in  yesterday's 
editions  of  the  two  big  ( ? )  morning  dailies  con- 
cerning the  alleged  mistreatment  by  Japanese  of 
sailors  on  the  schooner  "Lottie  Bennett,"  the 
"Commercial  News"  is  in  receipt  of  the  follow- 
ing communication,  which  explains  itself: 

"San  Francisco,  July  29,  1920. 
"Editor  'Commercial  News' 

"Dear  Sir: 

"As  owners  of  the  schooner  "Lottie  Bennett," 
we  desire  to  correct  any  misapprehension  which 
may  have  arisen  through  the  published  state- 
ments of  some  of  the  crew  of  this  vessel  relative 
to  treatment  accorded  cur  vessel  in  the  Caroline 
Islands. 

"The  Japanese  authoiities  extended  to  our  ves- 
sel every  courtesy  and  assistance  at  Ponape.  A 


doctor  from  the  Japanese  warship,  together  with 
the  Government  Health  Officer,  extended  to  the 
sick  members  of  the  crew  every  attention,  and 
medical  supplies  were  generously  given  to  the 
ship  free  of  cost.  The  launch  from  the  Japa- 
nese warship  in  Ponape  harbor  assisted  the 
vessel  when  it  appeared  likely  she  would  strand 
on  one  of  the  reefs  at  the  entrance  of  the  harbor. 

"The  statement  has  been  published  that  the 
Japanese  refused  to  permit  burial  of  the  de- 
ceased mate,  but  we  would  like  to  point  out  that 
the  mate  died  thirteen  days  before  the  arrival 
of  the  schooner  at  Ponape,  and  was  buried  at 
sea. 

"In  view  of  the  generous  treatment  accorded 
us  as  American  owners  of  the  ship  by  the  Japa- 
nese authorities  at  Ponape,  we  feel  constrained 
to  ask  that  you  would  be  good  enough  to  correct 
any  erroneous  impression  which  might  have 
arisen  through  the  published  statements  already 
referred  to,  which  have  no  foundation  in  fact. 

"With  thanks  in  anticipation,  we  are 

"Yours  truly, 

"BURNS-PHILP  CO.  OF  SAN  FRANCISCO, 
INC.  Per  D.  W.  Cross." 

The  refusal  of  succor  to  sick  or  shipwrecked 
sailors  is  a  crime  against  humanity  that  stirs  all 
men  to  anger  and  protest.  The  "Examiner" 
selected  the  lie  with  ingenuity  that  would  do 
the  devil  credit.  Its  lie  was  read  by  thousands, 
the  disproof  by  few.  I  ask  my  fellow  citizens, 
do  you  wish  to  ally  yourselves  with  the  cam- 
paign of  lies? 

The  "Examiner's"  story  was  made  out  of 
whole  cloth,  as  the  captain  of  the  ship  must  have 
made  the  truthful  report  to  the  owners  of  the 


NEGROES   PROPOSED    TO    TAKE   THE 
PLACE  OE  THE  JAPANESE 

Even  their  enemies  admit  the  industry,  obedi- 
ence to  law  and  skill  as  farm  workers  of  the 
Japanese.  The  Board  of  Control  and  Governor 
Stephens  admit  that  oui<,  24,000  Japanese  farm- 
ers and  farm  workers  in  1919  produced  $67,000,- 
000  of  food  products  from  the  soil,  not  one 
dollar  of  which  would  have  been  added  to  the 
commonwealth  without  them.  But  the  Gov- 
ernor, the  Board  of  Corjtrol  and  the  anti- Japa- 
nese agitators  they  lead  propose  to  drive  the 
Japanese  farmers  out  o?  the  State.  Who  will 
take  their  place?  Already  a  substitution  is 
planned. 

A  negro  paper  called  "The  California  Free 
Lance,"  devoted  its  entir  j  issue  of  April  1,  1920, 
to  advocating  the  colonisation  of  the  State  with 


Southern    negroes.     At    the    top    of    the    first 
column  on  the  front  page  of  that  issue  appear0 
the  following  letter  of  Governor  Stephens  aj 
proving  the  plan: 

"MORE  NEGRO  LABOR  ON  FARMS 

By  Governor  Win.  D.  Stephens 
Written  Especially  for  the  California  Free  Lance 

Workers  are  what  we  need,  and  opportunity 
was  never  so  widely  open  to  the  negro  as  it  is 
today.  A  very  large  number  of  colored  workers 
are  well  fitted  for  farm  labor,  and  it  would  be 
better  for  them,  and  a  measure  of  aid  to  our 
agricultural  interests,  if  they  could  be  diverted 
from  the  cities  into  the  country.  The  farm 
laborer  situation  is  difficult  in  this  State,  and 
steps  might  well  be  taken  to  shift  to  the  country 
those  colored  men  who  are  residing  in  large 
cities,  under  conditions  unsuited  to  them.  Our 
negro  workers  could  themselves  help  to  solve 
this  problem.  Any  effort  initiated  on  their 
part  undoubtedly  would  meet  with  active  en- 
couragement. Some  adaptation  to  new  condi- 
tions would  be  necessary,  but  this  could  easily 
be  brought  about  through  co-operation  between 
negro  workers  and  the  employing  farmers  of 
our  State. 

I  regard  this  matter  of  shifting  workers  who 
are  misplaced  in  cities  to  the  farms  of  our  State 
as  a  matter  of  importance,  and  I  invite  the 
earnest  attention  of  the  negro  people  to  it  as 
one  primarily  in  their  interest  as  well  as  being 
for  the  best  interests  of  our  State." 

The  Governor's  letter  is  followed  by  one  from 
a  member  of  Inman's  Anti-Japanese  Executive 
Committee. 

In  his  letter  to  Secretary  Colby,  Governor 
Stephens  puts  all  his  emphasis  upon  the  need 
of  expelling  the  Japanese  because  we  cannot 
assimilate  them.  When  he  has  helped  fill  the 
State  with  Southern  negroes,  will  the  Governor 
proceed  to  assimilate  them? 

I  assure  my  fellow  citizens  that  anti- Japa- 
nese agitators  are  trying  to  stampede  them  into 
an  act  of  dishonor  that  will  involve  the  State 
in  a  mesh  of  difficulties  of  the  most  serious 
nature. 

Do  you  want  to  persecute  the  clean  and  inte 
gent  and  orderly  Japanese  into  exile,  in  ord< 
to  replace  them  with  Southern  negroes? 
is  what  you  are  asked  to  do.     Choose  ye. 


COMMITTEE  OPPOSING 

THE 

ANTI-JAPANESE 
INITIATIVE 

In  the  official  pamphlet  of  instructions  to  voters 
the  anti-Japanese  initiative  heads  the  list  of  initia- 
tive measures  upon  which  the  voters  of  this  State 
will  act  in  November.  There  will  also  be  found 

THE  ARGUMENT  AGAINST  THE  ANTI- 
JAPANESE    INITIATIVE    BY    JNO. 
P.  IRISH,  APPOINTED  BY  THE 
LIEUTENANT  GOVERNOR 

"This  initiative  raises  questions  of  cold  law, 
to  which  I  invite  the  very  thoughtful  attention 
of  the  voters. 

"Our  treaty  with  Japan  provides  that  the 
Japanese  here  'may  own  or  hire  and  occupy 
houses,  manufactories,  warehouses,  shops  and 
premises  and  lease  land  for  residential  and  com- 
mercial purposes.'  In  its  economic  definition 
commerce  consists  of  Production,  Transmuta- 
tion and  Exchange.  Production  is  the  ranking 
element  because  without  it  there  can  be  no 
commerce.  The  treaty  protects  the  right  of 
Japanese  to  hire  or  own  manufactories,  for  trans- 
mutation, warehouses,  ^necessary  to  exchange, 
and  to  lease  land  for  commercial  purposes. 
Land  employed  in  agricultural  production  is  em- 
ployed in  a  commercial  purpose.  The  treaty  is 
intended,  then,  to  give  the  Japanese  privilege 
to  enter  upon  complete  commerce,  and  therefore 
protects  their  right  to  lease  land  for  production. 
Any  other  interpretation  twists  the  plain 
language  of  the  treaty  into  vain  repetition.  Con- 
sidered in  the  light  of  the  fourteenth  amend- 
ment to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
which  says:  'No  state  shall  deny  to  any  person 
within  its  jurisdiction  the  equal  protection  of 
the  law,'  we  find  the  initiative  in  conflict  with 
our  own  Constitution,  since  it  proposes  a  discrim- 


inatory  classification  of  aliens,  conferring  upon 
one  class  the  protection  of  the  law  which  it 
denies  to  another  class. 

"This  discrimination  applies  also  to  the 
leasing  of  land  denied  to  Japanese  and  per- 
mitted to  other  aliens.  It  also  applies  to  the 
feature  of  the  initiative  which  subjects  Japanese 
minors  who  own  land  to  the  guardianship  of  the 
Public  Administrator,  but  exempts  other  alien 
minors  who  own  land  from  such  guardianship. 

"These  proposed  discriminations  against 
classes  of  aliens,  were  adopted  by  the  people  of 
another  state  by  the  initiative  and  were  voided 
by  the  U.  S.  Supreme  Court  as  unconstitutional. 
That  court  held  that  'equal  protection  of  the 
laws,  is  applicable  to  all  persons,  without  regard 
to  any  differences  of  race,  color  or  nationality' 
and  that  discrimination  under  the  pretense  of 
'promoting  the  health,  safety,  morals  and  wel- 
fare,' is  unconstitutional,  and  denies  'the  very 
essence  of  personal  freedom  and  opportunity  it 
was  the  purpose  of  the  amendment  to  secure.' 
And  'if  such  freedom  could  be  refused  upon  the 
ground  of  race  or  nationality,  the  prohibition 
of  the  denial  to  any  person  of  the  equal  pro- 
tection of  the  laws  would  be  a  barren  form  of 
words.' 

"In  the  foregoing  I  have  stripped  the  initi- 
ative of  its  cryptic  and  involved  language  and 
technicalities,  so  that  it  is  naked  in  its  two 
purposes:  First,  to  forbid  the  leasing  of  land  to 
Japanese  and  Chinese;  and  Second,  to  take 
land-owning  minors  of  those  races  from  the 
natural  guardianship  of  the  parents  and  commit 
them  to  the  control  of  the  Public  Administrator. 
All  the  other  confusing  propositions  of  tl 
initiative  respecting  holdings  in  corporations 
etc.,  are  subordinate  to  these  two.  Landownei 
are  warned  that  if  the  State  can  forbid  the 
to  lease  to  a  certain  class,  it  can  also  comp( 
them  to  lease  to  a  certain  other  class.  Th< 
must  resist  this  invasion  of  liberty." 

To  that  argument  no  answer  has  been  made  b) 
the  anti-Japanese  agitators,  because  it  is  so  sel 
evident  that  it  cannot  be  disputed. 

To   support  that   argument   this   Committee 
organized.    Its  purpose  is  to  publish  the  truth 
expose  the  falsehoods  by  which  it  is  attempted 
stampede  the  people  into  support  of  the  anti-Jap- 
anese initiative,  and  incidentally  to  elect  to  office 


several  politicians  whose  sole  claim  to  support  is 
their  abuse  of  the  Japanese. 

Believing  that  the  sore  needs  of  the  country 
demand  a  higher  form  of  politics  than  the  abuse 
and  misrepresentation  of  the  orderly,  intelligent, 
industrious  and  law-abiding  Japanese,  who  were 
our  useful  allies  in  the  world  war,  and  who  are 
here  by  our  invitation  in  a  treaty  made  with  their 
country,  we  declare  our  position  to  be,  that  without 
increase  in  their  number  by  immigration,  the  Jap- 
anese who  are  here  have  earned  and  deserve  the 
respect  and  support  of  our  people,  and  that  to  expel 
them  by  persecution  will  inflict  great  moral  and 
economic  injury  upon  California.  Such  being  our 
position  we  invite  the  men  and  women  of  this  State 
to  join  our  standard  and  support  the  honor  and  the 
Christian  civilization  of  California  by  opposing  this 
unjust,  unnecessary,  un-Christian,  illegal  and  in- 
human initiative,  and  leaving  the  settlement  of  any 
issue  involved,  to  the  Federal  Government,  where 
it  belongs. 

As  the  most  powerful  advocates  of  the  expulsion 
of  the  Japanese  are  on  record  as  proposing  to 
colonize  the  State  with  Southern  negroes,  we  unite 
with  the  thinking  people  of  California  opposing 
such  an  exchange,  as  involving  an  unspeakable  peril 
to  the  women  of  the  State. 

The  sub-committee  on  discussion  is  authorized 
to  challenge  the  anti-Japanese  organization  to  a 
public,  joint  discussion  of  the  Japanese  question, 
with  our  representative,  in  order  that  the  people  be 
no  longer  misled  by  ex  parte  statements  lacking  in 
the  element  of  truth. 

THE  COMMITTEE 

Names  and  Addresses 

Bertha  E.  Kori  Rev.  James  L.  Gordon 

702  Bonnie  Beach  Place  1st  Congregational  Church 

Los  Angeles,  Calif.  Post  and  Mason  Sts. 

.1.  H.  Irish  San  Francisco,  Calif. 

2509  Hearst  Ave.  Wilmer  Sieg 

Berkeley,  Calif.  %Calif.  Fruit  Distributors 

Miss  Alice  Barrett  f ox  602> 

Greenwood,  Calif.  Sacramento,  Calif 

Alexander  Fiore  Dr-  David  Starr  Jordan 

521  L  St.    P.  O.  Box  449  Stanford  University,  Calif. 

Sacramento,  Calif.  C.  M.  Wooster 

Miss  Margaret  B.  Curry  32°  Phelan  Bldg. 

616  Buchanan  St.  San  Francisco,  Calif. 

San  Francisco,  Calif.  Frank  A.  Guernsey 

California  Federation  of  President      Farmers     and 

Women's  Clubs  Merchants  Bank 

Emily  R.  H.  Bell  Stockton,  Calif. 

(Mrs.  J.  E.  Bell)  A.  C.  Stevens 

\lmond  Hill  Lafayette  Apartments 

Saratoga,  Calif.  Berkeley,  Calif. 


Carson  C.  Cook 

Gen.  Mgr.  Rindge  Land 
and  Navigation  Co. 

Stockton,  Calif. 
Miss  Alice  M.  Brown 

2015  C  Street 

Sacramento,  Calif. 
Marion  S.  Alduton 

Secty.  Housewives  Union 
No.  1,  Santa  Clara  Co. 

Palo  Alto,  Calif. 
James  Tyson 

The  Charles  Nelson  Co. 

230  California  St. 

San  Francisco,  Calif. 
Frank  R.  Buckalew 

2408  S.  Atherton 

Berkeley,  Calif. 
Francis  B.  Kellogg 

610  Auditorium 

Los  Angeles  Calif. 
M.  L.  Durbin 

Walnut  Grove 

Sacramento  Co.,  Calif. 
Mrs.  L.  M.  Eskridge 

1480  Larkin  St. 

San  Francisco,  Calif. 
Mrs.  Clara  Mahoney 

968  Ellis  St. 

San  Francisco,  Calif. 
L.  M.  Landsborough 

Florin,  Calif. 
A.  R.  Rideout 

Whittier,  Calif. 
Florence  L.  Stephens 

Attorney  at  Law 

629-630  Western  Mutual 
Life  Bldg.,  Third  and 
Hill 

Los  Angeles,  Calif. 
Chas.  E.  Virden 

Gen.  Manager  Calif.  Fruit 
Distribution 

Sacramento,  Calif. 
Mrs.  Luretta  Black 

Yolo,  Calif. 

Box  16 
G.  P.  Hurst 
Hurst  &  Hurst 

Woodland,  Calif. 
Mrs.  A.  E.  Thurber 

Napa,  Calif. 
Geo.  S.  Nickerson 

Civil  and  Hydraulic  Eng. 

Forum  Bldg. 

Sacramento,  Calif. 
Grosvenor  P.  Ayers 

3334  Clay  St. 

San  Francisco,  Calif. 
W.  D.  Buckley 

Stockton 

JNO. 


Mary  Roberts  Coolidge 
Dwight  Way  End 
Berkeley,  Calif. 

Asa  V.  Mendenhall 
225  Dalziel  Bldg. 
Oakland,  Calif. 

Mrs.  G.  W.  Percy 
169  Santa  Rosa  Ave. 
Oakland,  Calif. 

Mrs.  Arthur  Baird 

1625  St.  Andrews  Place  S 
Los  Angeles,  Calif. 

Rev.  Henry  Stauffer 
The  Huntley  Apartments 
1207  W.  Third  St. 
Los  Angeles,  Calif. 

Miss  Virginia  E.  Graeff 
1633  Jones  St. 
Hollywood,  Calif. 
Educational  Hollywood  Ar 
Association. 

W.  S.  Alexander 
Gen.  Ins.  Broker 
506  Underwood  Bldg. 
525  Market  St. 
San  Francisco,  Calif. 

Mrs.  Fred.  Wyman  Vaughi 
2211  California  St. 
San  Francisco,  Calif. 

Ellen  Moore 

60  S.  Orange  Grove  Ave 
Pasadena,  Calif. 

Geo.  W.  Turner 
Los  Gatos,  Calif. 

Mrs.  Philip  H.  Dodge 
R.  F.  D.  2.  502  B. 
Santa  Cruz,  Calif. 

Raymond  L.  Buell 
301  Gladys  Ave. 
Long  Beach,  Calif. 

Geo.  A.  Atherton 
Delta  Lands 
Stockton 

Hon.  Leroy  Wright 
San  Diego 

Fred  C.  Rindge 
Stockton 

Dr.  H.  H.  Guy 

2515  Hillegass  Ave. 
Berkeley,  Calif. 

Dr.  H.  B.  Johnson 
2600  Piedmont  Ave. 
Berkeley,  Calif. 

P.  IRISH,  CHAIRMAN, 
Oakland. 


The 

Anti-Japanese 
Pogrom 

Facts  versus 

the  Falsehoods  of 

Senator  Phelan 

and  Others 


By  Colonel  John  P.  Irish 


Let  it  be  repeated  that  the  present  anti- 
Japanese  agitation,  like  the  anti-Chinese  move- 
ment of  years  ago,  has  the  same  psychology  as 
the  Russian  anti-Jewish  pogrom,  which  always 
starts  with  the  lie  that  Jews  have  murdered 
Christian  children  to  use  their  blood  in  the 
rites  of  the  Synagogue.  The  leader  of  the 
anti-Japanese  pogrom  is  Senator  Phelan.  An 
election  is  approaching.  He  has  made  no  rec- 
ord of  any  benefit  to  the  state  in  the  Senate; 
so  he  must  divert  attention  from  his  useless- 
ness  as  a  senator  by  attacking  the  Japanese  and 
trying  to  stampede  the  state  by  lying  about 
them. 

It  is  my  purpose  to  take  up  his  public  state- 
ments and  those  of  his  helpers  in  this  ignoble 
work,  and  prove  them  false,  not  by  my  word, 
but  by  official  and  other  indisputable  authority. 

Senator  Phelan  began  his  pogrom  by  pub- 
lishing that  an  American  company  had  sold  to 
Japanese  800,000  acres  of  land  on  the  Mex- 
ican side  of  the  Imperial  Valley. 

The  American  company  at  once  proved  this 
[  i  1 


to  be  a  lie.  It  had  not  sold  land  anywhere  to 
Japanese. 

Mr.  Phelan  then  changed  his  statement  and 
charged  that  the  Mexican  government  had  sold 
800,000  acres  of  land  adjoining  our  boundary 
to  Japanese,  and  that  this  was  a  violation  of 
the  Monroe  Doctrine! 

The  Mexican  government  immediately  re- 
plied with  proof  that  it  had  not  sold  land  any- 
where to  Japanese,  and  as  Senator  Phelan 
had  claimed  that  under  the  Monroe  Doctrine 
the  United  States  can  dictate  to  the  states  of 
Central  and  South  America  what  private  par- 
ties may  own  land  in  their  jurisdiction,  Presi- 
dent Carranza  very  promptly  and  properly 
repudiated  the  Monroe  Doctrine. 

In  November,  Mr.  Phelan  published  in  the 
Chico  "Enterprise"  that  he  had  been  ap- 
proached by  a  Japanese  who  presented  a  letter 
from  our  Ambassador  to  Tokio,  and  who  pro- 
posed that  we  should  surrender  the  whole 
Imperial  Valley  to  the  Japanese. 

But  the  Senator  had  furnished  a  clue  to  test 
the  truth  of  the  story  by  naming  a  letter  from 
our  Ambassador,  and  soon  changed  the  story, 
and  in  its  new  form  it  was  published  in  the 
"California  Cultivator"  of  January  31,  1920, 
as  follows: 

"When  I  left  Washington  an  American  rep- 
resenting powerful  Japanese  organizations  said 
to  be  backed  by  the  Japanese  government, 
proposed  that  Americans  be  ousted  from  the 
Imperial  Valley  and  it  be  turned  over  to  the 
Japanese." 

Notice  that  in  this  last  version  no  names  are 
mentioned,  and  no  clue  given,  not  even  finger 
marks.  As  no  Japanese  and  no  American  can 
be  thought  of  to  be  fool  enough  to  go  to  Mr. 
Phelan  with  such  an  idiotic  proposition,  the 
statement  has  the  face  of  a  lie  in  both  versions. 

In  November  he  made  a  speech  to  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce  of  Oakland.  After 
some  vagrant  vituperation  of  the  Japanese,  he 
ventured  upon  a  specific  statement  to  call  atten- 
tion to  the  "horrible  condition  of  Merced 
County,  overrun  by  Japanese  who  own  there 

[2  ] 


>000    acres    of    the    best    farm    land    in    the 
.ounty." 

I  immediately  wrote  to  the  Recorder  of 
Merced  County  to  let  me  know  the  acreage 
owned  by  Japanese.  In  reply  he  sent  me  the 
1919  report  of  the  County  Assessor,  just 
made  to  the  State  Controller.  The  Assessor 
says  there  are  1 85  Japanese  in  Merced  County. 
They  own  395  acres  of  farm  land  and  36  town 
lots.  There  are  2  7  Japanese  children  in  the 
primary  schools  and  two  in  the  high  school. 
The  white  neighbors  of  the  Japanese  all  say 
they  are  good  people  to  do  business  with,  and 
unobjectionable. 

On  the  18th  of  last  December  Mr.  Phelan 
made  an  anti-Japanese  speech  to  the  Com- 
monwealth Club  in  San  Francisco,  in  which  he 
said  that  Japanese  births  in  California  were 
three  to  one  white  birth. 

The  official  report  of  the  State  Board  of 
Health,  sent  to  me  by  Mr.  Ross,  Registrar  of 
Vital  Statistics,  shows  for  1919: 

White  births 50,898 

Japanese  births 4,378 

The  records  of  the  Board  of  Health  show 
more  white  births  in  the  single  year  1919  than 
Japanese  births  in  the  full  ten  years  preceding. 
His  speech  on  that  occasion  strung  other  lies 
on  this  birth  rate  lie,  like  beads  on  a  string. 

In  their  statements  made  to  the  Committee 
on  Immigration  of  the  United  States  Senate, 
both  Senator  Phelan  and  Mr.  McClatchy  said 
that  there  were  in  California  20,000  picture 
brides  and  that  "they  usually  each  give  birth 
to  a  child  once  a  year."  The  official  report  of 
the  California  Board  of  Health  for  1919  re- 
cords 4378  Japanese  births  in  the  state  for 
that  year.  So  that  of  the  imaginary  picture 
brides,  20,000  in  number,  reported  by  Phelan 
and  McClatchy,  more  than  16,000  must  have 
been  asleep  at  the  switch. 

After  Governor  Stephens  refused  to  call  an 
extra  session  of  the  Legislature  to  pass  anti- 
Japanese  laws,  Phelan  said  in  Washington  that 
the  Governor  had  received  a  letter  from  the 
Japanese  Association  warmly  thanking  him  for 
his  refusal,  and  Phelan  published  the  letter. 

[3  ] 


I  wrote  the  Governor's  office  asking  if  he 
had  received  such  a  letter.  The  answer  was: 
"Phelan* s  statement  is  an  absolute  lie." 

There  are  men  in  San  Francisco  who  know 
the  inside  facts  about  this  little  comedy.  When 
those  facts  are  made  public,  as  they  undoubt- 
edly will  be,  the  Senator  will  have  to  face  an 
embarrassing  situation.  In  the  meantime,  it  is 
sufficient  to  say  that  the  Governor  never  re- 
ceived the  letter. 

Recently  a  questionable  item  in  a  naval 
appropriation  bill  was  before  the  Senate.  Mr. 
Phelan  demanded  its  passage  as  necessary  to 
the  defense  of  this  coast,  for  he  said,  "the 
largest  Japanese  warship  lies  in  the  harbor  of 
Honolulu." 

A  few  days  later  the  Associated  Press  pub- 
lished from  its  agent  in  Honolulu  that  no  Jap- 
anese warship  was  in  Hawaiian  waters,  nor 
had  been  for  a  long  time.  Commenting  on 
this,  the  New  York  "Sun"  said  maybe  Senator 
Phelan  does  not  know  where  Hawaii  is! 

The  Senator  has  uttered  other  defamatory 
statements,  and  every  one  is  a  lie.  They  are 
as  thick  in  his  record  as  cooties  in  a  battle 
trench.  I  leave  him  now  to  attend  to  the 
cases  of  his  companions  in  falsehood  and 
exaggeration. 

I  dislike  to  say  that  Mr.  V.  S.  McClatchy,  of 
the  Sacramento  "Bee,"  intentionally  lies,  but 
his  bitter  prejudice  and  hatred  have  fed  his 
credulity  until  he  has  become  a  "carrier"  of 
falsehoods,  as  some  people  are  "carriers"  of 
typhoid.  Mr.  McClatchy  has  published  that 
during  the  twelve  months  ending  June  30, 
1919,  9678  Japanese  were  found  to  be  illle- 
gally  in  this  country  and  were  arrested  and 
deported. 

Now  the  official  report  of  the  Commissioner 
of  Immigration  shows  nine  Japanese  deported 
for  being  illegally  in  the  country,  in  the  year 
ending  June  30,  191 8. 

The  Commissioner's  report  for  the  next 
year,  ending  June  30,  1919,  shows  117  con- 
traband Japanese  were  apprehended  and  de- 
ported. So  for  the  full  year  covered  by  Mr. 
McClatchy' s  statement,  the  official  report 
[4] 


•Shows  only  126  Japanese  illegally  in  the  coun- 
try and  deported.  I  wrote  the  Commissioner 
General  of  Immigration  asking  the  foundation 
for  Mr.  McClatchy's  statement,  and  that  offi- 
cial seems  to  think  that  his  official  report, 
above  quoted,  is  sufficient  answer.  The  cir- 
cumstantial evidence  is  against  the  truth  of 
McClatchy's  figures,  since  the  arrest  of  so  large 
a  number  could  not  have  escaped  the  notice 
of  the  newspapers  and  of  the  Japanese  Consul. 
Mr.  McClatchy  follows  his  apocryphal  figures 
with  the  statement  that  "No  account  is  taken 
of  the  picture  brides  who  arrived."  This  is 
not  true.  They  all  had  to  land  at  the  Immi- 
gration Station  and  be  registered,  undergo  a 
physical  examination,  and  their  names  and 
those  of  their  husbands  recorded. 

In  Mr.  McClatchy's  statement  to  the  Immi- 
gration Section  of  the  Commonwealth  Club  he 
said  the  Japanese  on  landing  at  first  drive 
white  labor  out  by  working  for  low  wages  and 
then  proceed  to  conquer  everything.  This 
statement  is  not  true.  I  am  a  farmer  and 
know,  as  do  all  farmers,  there  was  no  white 
labor  to  drive  out.  Instead  of  working  for 
low  wages,  the  Japanese  in  California  are  paid 
the  highest  farm  wages  in  the  world,  and  they  * 
a;e  the  most  industrious  and  skillful  land 
people  in  the  state. 

The  glaring  falsehoods  of  Honorable  John 
S.  Chambers  I  have  already  answered.  The 
lies  in  the  newspapers  are  too  numerous  to 
mention.  One  in  the  "Call"  may  suffice.  That 
paper,  under  infuriating  headlines,  published 
that  Japanese  stevedores  in  loading  an  Amer- 
ican cargo  of  vegetable  oils  had  maliciously 
punched  holes  in  the  tin  containers  with  load- 
ing hooks,  and  the  oil  leaked  out,  and  this  was 
done  to  damage  American  commerce.  The 
owner  of  the  oil  in  San  Francisco  and  the 
officers  of  the  ship  at  once  exposed  the  story 
as  a  malicious  lie,  as  did  Lloyds,  whose  sur- 
veyor in  Kobe  watched  the  loading  and  certi- 
fied to  the  proper  condition  of  the  cargo. 
Then  it  was  shown  by  the  same  parties  that 
Japanese  stevedores  use  no  loading  hooks. 
But  did  the  "Call"  correct  the  lie?  Not  up 
to  date. 

[5  ] 


Another  member  of  Phelan's  pogrom  gang 
publishes  that  Japanese  have  leased   ten  mil 
lion  acres  of  land  in  the  Sutler  Basin.      Go  to 
the  maps  in  the  office  of  the  State  Reclama- 
tion  Board   and   you   find    that   in   the   wh   le 
Sutter  Basin,  from  the  mouth  of  Butte  Slot    "h 
to    the    confluence    of    the    Sacramento    i     1 
Feather  rivers,    there  are  only  sixty  thousc 
acres.      But  people  who  don't  know  what 
where  Sutter  Basin  is,  read  that  ten  million 
and  rush  to  join  the  anti-Japanese  pogrom. 
Senator  Phelan  has  published  a  study  of 
"hybrids,"  as  he  calls  them,  half  Japanese  i 
half  white  children.      I  refuse  to  accept  his 
an  expert  opinion. 

During  the  anti-Chinese  pogrom  there  w 
long  and  hot  discussions  ovei  Chinese  c 
white  hybrids,  impossibility  of  .  milation,  . 
But  the  multi-millionaire  Chine  Ah  Fong, 
Honolulu,  had  a  bevy  of  chai  ng  daughi 
by  his  wife,  who  was  half  and  half  Portugu 
and  Hawaiian.  The  Ah  Fong  girls  were 
toast  of  the  Pacific,  beautiful  and  acc< 
plished,  and  they  all  married  well,  to  wl 
gentlemen,  several  of  the  husbands  be 
officers  in  the  American  army  and  navy. 

It   is    demonstrated    by    the    foregoing    t 
politicians  are  trying  to  stampede  the  peo 
of  California  to  do  an  act  of  dishonor  aga 
an  industrious,  cleanly,  and  law-abiding  peoi 
The  proposed  initiative  measure  has  to  go  br 
to  the  cruelties  attending  the  expulsion  of 
Jews  from  Spain,   to  find  an  equal  in  crue 
inhumanity,    an<i:  dishonor.       It    violates 
treaty  with  -Japan  £nd  the  Fourteenth  Amei 

.-^  meiji  fcp  our  own  Constitution,  and  is  a  pro;    .. 

'•  Offspring  of  the  disgraceful  lies  from  whict    \t 
.1  s4^nd  tpr^mfetican  honor,  decen    % 
fair  play^t  |tahd  for  what  is  called  •     rv 
ristian    civilisation   and   wonder   if    there 
enough  of  its  spirit  in,»  Calif ornia  to  save 
honor  of  the  state. 

JOHN  P.  IRISH, 

1904  Adeline  Street,      ' 

Oakland,    California^^BB      . 

F 


[6] 


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